


i want to be found

by allourheroes



Series: thieves in the night [1]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman and Robin (Comics), DCU (Comics)
Genre: Age Difference, Caught having Sex, College, DCU Big Bang, Declarations Of Love, Developing Relationship, Father-Son Feelings, Feelings, First Dates, First Kiss, First Time, Future Fic, Gratuitous Smut, Guilt, M/M, Porn with Feelings, Roommates, Sexual Tension, a tiny bit of Chinese, coming out as a couple
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-28
Updated: 2014-10-28
Packaged: 2018-02-22 23:52:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2526260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allourheroes/pseuds/allourheroes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Damian starts college at fifteen, lives in the dorms, and tortures his roommate a little.</p><p>It could also be about the way he's been in love with Dick Grayson for as long as he can remember and despite Dick's ability to say all the wrong things, he says all of the right ones, too.</p><p>(And maybe Dick and Damian get it on like horny teenagers... Oh, wait.)</p><p>[DCU Bang 2014]</p>
            </blockquote>





	i want to be found

**Author's Note:**

> This is technically a bit late. And rushed. For some reason, my artist and I both assumed October 27th was a Tuesday and only just realized otherwise, so. Um. Our collective bad?
> 
>  
> 
> [ART BY IMPALAFORTRENCHCOATS HERE](http://impalafortrenchcoats.tumblr.com/post/101157738751/)
> 
>  
> 
> I will...clean this all up when I'm a little more awake. Title from "Thieves in the Night" by Hot Chip.
> 
> Timeline-wise...this fic is a mash-up of the Batman Reborn phase with the New 52, mostly. There's really a bit of everything, _but_ if you take Damian being 10 in the 2009 _Batman and Robin_ series, his age is basically what it would be in 2014. You know, if comics followed that sort of logic.
> 
> This is basically a story about Dick and Damian getting together, about the honeymoon phase and the relationship bubble--as well as its subsequent bursting.
> 
> I'm just going to warn you guys now...there is a _lot_ of porn. Like. I should feel bad about it, maybe. Oops.

Damian doesn’t start looking at colleges, at fourteen he tells them that he _will be attending university_ fall the next year--within the city, in fact.

Tim snorts and says something about how he thought American universities would be _beneath_ the son of Batman, the boy raised by the League of Assassins.

Bruce doesn’t seem to say anything for a long time. Not to anyone but Damian, at least--and maybe Jason, if the second Robin’s more frequent presence is anything to go by.

(No one can quite figure out _why_ Bruce and Jason would need to talk so much. Stephanie rolls her eyes, but when they ask, all she tells them is that it would be nice for Bruce and Jason to work on their issues. The others are skeptical, but they accept the answer and Stephanie is annoyed and relieved all at once.)

Damian doesn’t mention college again for months and Tim suggests that maybe the no-longer-so-little demon has changed his mind. When there’s still no word for a few weeks longer, some are inclined to agree.

So it’s a surprise when Damian seeks out Dick and Alfred in the kitchen. Dick is devouring a fresh batch of cookies and Alfred is pretending he didn’t make them just for Dick.

“I want to live in the dormitories at the school,” Damian tells them calmly.

“Dorms,” Dick corrects--geez, did the kid always have to be so formal?--before he processes the words. “Wait, what?” he asks, around a mouthful of cookie.

“You wouldn’t prefer to remain here, Master Damian? Just because you’re headed to university in no way means Master Bruce will so much as request your leave.” Alfred almost looks concerned, but not quite.

Dick frowns. “You’re going to Gotham U, right? It’s not far.”

Damian focuses on Dick, his words seeming to be drawn from him almost painfully. “I thought you of all people would enjoy the idea of something a bit more...social.”

Dick blinks. Blinks again. “Oh, yeah. That’s... That’s good,” he says, but he’s confused. Damian had always hated being social. Even now, his friend group didn’t really extend much outside of the family. Dick smiles, but it’s a little forced.

Damian makes a face and Dick relaxes, his grin growing genuine.

“How very uncharacteristic of you, Master Damian. Have you informed your father of this decision?”

Damian looks away from Dick, as if there is something there that he is still waiting for--perhaps approval, although it isn’t a common desire of his. He nods at Alfred. “Father agreed it might be for the best after I had explained my position.”

“Wow. You seem all grown up,” Dick says. He’s proud, but he’s something else, too. Something he can’t quite understand.

There’s a hard glint in Damian's eyes. “I would prefer you viewed me as an adult, Grayson. Outside of this backwards country, I am generally capable of making my own decisions and consenting to whatever I wish.”

“Here, it’s still statutory,” Jason’s voice interrupts and Damian doesn’t quite scowl at the Hood.

Dick is so distracted by Jason he nearly the misses the bright flush from Damian’s cheeks and down his throat where it disappears beneath his shirt. “He’s going to college at fifteen.”

“A lot of things he wants to be doing at fifteen.” Jason bites his bottom lip. “Can’t say I blame him. Hell, can’t say I didn’t have similar ideas.”

“Master Jason, if you refuse to be appropriate, I won’t be making you dinner.”

“But, Alfie, no one cooks as good as you do,” Jason tells him, between a plea and a tease.

With Alfred and Jason distracted, Dick turns to Damian, whether it’s to bond over Jason and Alfred or to tell him how proud he is-- _really_ \--he doesn’t get the chance to decide. Damian isn’t looking at him and Dick bites back all the things he could’ve said, swallows them down.

~

“Weird,” Nightwing says as Batman breaks a guy’s wrist.

Bruce looks at him skeptically from behind the cowl.

“I just keep thinking about Damian. Going to college. Living in the dorms.” He laughs. “It’s so… _normal_. And Damian isn’t normal, not that he’s…” Dick trails off.

Bruce sighs, some no-name criminal still yowling in pain. “He’s growing up. He got the chance to.”

Dick grimaces. He thinks of that year when Damian was gone. It wasn’t all that long ago, but with everything that had happened, at least he’d been somewhat distracted.

He had tried not to think about it. He still tries.

“Yeah,” he tells Batman, and his smile is forced, as if he can make _Bruce_ forget--as if it’s even possible. Dick doesn’t bring it up again.

~

Damian has moved into his dorm room with little fanfare, but there is still one more day before classes actually begin. He tells Alfred that he is gathering the last of his things, but Bruce finds him with his animals, petting Batcow with Titus sitting solemnly at his side.

Bruce doesn’t make a sound, but Damian is aware of his presence. He does not take a step forward, allowing Bruce to come to him as the animals seem to sense the tension of the moment and disperse.

“I’m proud of you,” Bruce tells him and Damian swallows down the lump in his throat. Bruce actually smiles. “You already know this.”

Damian nods slowly, as if agreeing is quite a difficult thing. “I know,” he says finally.

Bruce places a steady hand on Damian’s shoulder. “You’ll do great.”

Damian doesn’t give him some smart-ass remark, only meets Bruce’s gaze and replies, “I will, Father.”

This is their version of a heart-to-heart and it is more than enough.

~

Dick is the first to come for a visit.

There’s no cute little sign outside the door and when Dick knocks, the kid who answers it is most definitely not Damian. The combination of annoyance and misery in his expression makes Dick assume he's in the right place, however.

“Hello,” the guy says, but doesn't move, waiting for Dick to indicate why exactly he’s shown up here. Damian simply brushes him aside and scrutinizes Dick in that way of his.

“Grayson,” he addresses, “I trust you had no problem finding me.”

Dick can tell by his tone that Damian has partially reverted back to his old self, the one that graced everyone and everything with scathing looks. If Damian is sheltering himself so thoroughly behind this bristly persona again, it’s really no wonder why his roommate already hates everything. “No problem at all,” he says with a grin and pulls Damian into a hug. He knows it will embarrass Damian terribly, but what better way is there to assure the roommate of Damian's humanity? Making Damian into a human being is what Dick _lives_ for.

Damian is stiff, his limbs tense and cautious as they return the embrace, but he buries his face in Dick’s chest and Dick knows he appreciates this, even if he would never admit to it. They break apart slowly, but then Damian is quickly turning his head and clearing his throat and Dick only just catches the flush of his cheeks before his face is out of sight.

“Are you his...friend?” the roommate manages after a minute and Dick isn’t certain what that tone means, but he just beams at the guy anyway and offers his hand.

“Dick Grayson,” Dick says with that sunbeam of a smile he has.

The guy takes his hand, a combination of curiosity and surprise in him, and shakes it slowly. “Alan,” he says. “Um. Alan Wang.”

“It’s good to meet you, Alan. I hope Damian hasn’t been torturing you too much.” He glances at Damian and back and adds in a stage whisper, “He’s actually very sweet-- Ow!” He rubs his side where Damian has jabbed him so hard that it'll likely bruise.

“If you say so.” Alan raises an eyebrow at Damian and Damian just stares right back at him.

When Alan leaves for the library, Dick hooks an arm around Damian’s shoulder. The kid is so tall now, although still a bit shorter than Dick. “You should go easy on him,” he says, resting his cheek on the top of Damian’s head.

Damian tenses again and Dick is surprised he doesn’t just wrench himself away this time. He had gotten away with that hug today, too.

He considers himself very lucky.

~

Nightwing has just struck one of the three burglars across the side with an escrima stick when a colorful blur slams down the others--a boot to each head. “Don’t you have class in the morning?” he calls.

“-tt-”

Dick grins at him and the criminal sees this as an opportunity to take a swing. He dodges, swiping the man’s legs out from under him. “Thanks,” he says, seeing that Damian has the others tied already.

“Of course, Nightwing,” Robin tells him and he looks tall and Dick shouldn’t find that so surprising still.

Dick zip-ties the last perp’s wrists behind his back. He stretches and his stomach gives a weak gurgle. “Wanna grab a bite?”

Damian shrugs in acquiescence, stepping on one of the fallen criminals. “I’ve alerted Gordon.”

They end up getting falafel and Dick finds himself strangely mute, just watching the boy who was once his Robin and who now attends _college_ like an _adult_ \--even if he _is_ only fifteen.

~

A week later, Dick has just gotten back from patrol when his phone buzzes. He thinks about ignoring it in favor of flopping down on the couch and possibly passing out there, but he grabs it because with his life, it could be important.

It’s a reminder--a missed text from Damian.

_Goodnight, Grayson._

Dick doesn’t know why this makes him as happy as it does and he starts to text back before he looks at the time stamp on it--12:16AM. That was nearly an hour ago.

He frowns, hesitating. He doesn’t want to wake Damian if the kid had actually gone to sleep at a reasonable hour but he doesn't want to seem like he’s ignoring him either. He’s already written the message, short as it is, and he stares at the send button for a good five minutes, waking his phone when it dims.

With a yawn, Dick presses send and doesn’t think about it anymore. He sets it down on the table and he’s asleep before it buzzes again: _Come over._

(Dick wakes up soon after, panicked by some dream that fades the second his eyes open. He glances at the clock. It’s only been twenty minutes.

He scrubs a hand over his face and his phone buzzes again. With a glance at it, he grins and throws on something a bit less conspicuous before heading out the door. It’s only when he’s nearly there that he starts to question the rationality of his decision.)

~

Damian can’t sleep. He hasn’t been out on patrol much since he’s started at Gotham University, but it’s been a bit strange to change his schedule. It isn’t as if he finds it _difficult_ , he tells himself, only that certain nights he feels like the city is more at risk without his protection.

He checks his phone again to see if Dick has texted him back and there’s still nothing. “-tt-” He had known it was a longshot, but it doesn’t mean he isn’t disappointed.

Which is stupid.

Alan is snoring lightly on his bed a few feet away and Damian resists the urge to smother him.

There’s a rapping on his window and, at first, he ignores the sound, thinking it’s just the wind in the trees, but then it happens again. He sits up slowly, on full alert. It could be something suspicious, it could be--

He frowns at Dick and unlatches it. He’s on the sixth floor but that doesn’t mean much to people like them.

“There _is_ a door, Grayson,” Damian says, blocking his way into the tiny room. He hasn’t bothered pitching his voice low.

“Didn’t wanna bother your doorman,” Dick whispers with a sheepish grin.

“-tt- That’s not what they’re called. I would have let you in had I _known_ you were coming.”

Dick shrugs. “You asked me to.”

Damian doesn’t point out that Dick hadn’t texted _back_. He’s too busy feeling extremely pleased by this, although he doesn’t let on. In fact, from the second he’d seen Grayson at his window, his annoyance at the world had lessened exponentially. It’s just the effect Dick has on him. “I did,” is all he says, but he moves out of the way.

Dick climbs in gracefully and glances at Alan. “Should we--”

“He’s snoring. I think I’m enough of a detective to notice a change in his breathing should he wake.”

“Well, alright then.” Dick runs a hand through his hair. It’s longer than it’s been in a while.

“You need a haircut,” Damian says suddenly, hands tangling in Dick’s hair.

Dick doesn’t move. “Oh. I think it looks fine.” He’s trying to laugh it off, but it comes out too serious, wincing slightly when Damian tugs at his hair.

Damian says nothing, tilting his head. Maybe it’s because he’s restless that it seems so right, so _easy_ to do it right then when it’s been sitting peacefully in the back of his mind for ages: he kisses Dick, fingers twisting locks of hair as he does.

Dick doesn’t respond, pulling away and pressing two fingers to his lips as if he’s uncertain what just happened. “Uh.”

Damian’s face scrunches up. “-tt- How intelligent, Grayson.”

Dick feels like it’s too quiet, all he can hear is his heart pounding, the rustle of leaves in the wind outside. He hadn’t… He hadn’t been expecting _that_. “Was that your first kiss?” he blurts, his curiosity overriding the fight-or-flight adrenaline that’s coursing through him. It’s random, and perhaps that’s for the best.

“Yes,” Damian replies, as if it’s the stupidest question he’s ever heard.

It’s dark, but Dick can see the pink in Damian’s cheeks. “Oh. That’s… Thanks?” He swallows, smiling nervously. “Maybe I should go and let you...sleep.”

Damian purses his lips. “Stay.”

Dick feels anxious, antsy. He suppresses the urge to kiss Damian--where had that even _come_ from? He couldn’t--shouldn’t-- He doesn’t know if his best option is to sit down or hop right back out the window he came in through. “Dami, I…” He shakes his head.

“It’s late,” Damian says reasonably. “There’s no need for you to go back out there tonight.” He yawns. He suddenly feels much better than he had, Dick’s mere presence lulling him into a kind of a peace. “My bed is big enough to share--I’m certain you snore less than Titus does.”

Searching desperately for something to say, an excuse or-- “What about Alan?” he asks.

Damian glances at his roommate. “His breathing is even, still sleeping.”

Dick is slightly panicked. The kiss and then an invitation to stay over? He can’t process it. “I’m not sleeping with y--” He bites his tongue. “That sounds _bad_.”

With a shrug, Damian says, “I’m lonely.”

That gives Dick pause. But...it can’t be right, can it? Damian doesn’t _say_ those types of things. Damian _is_ great at manipulation, however, so Dick doesn’t give in. “But, Alan--”

“-tt-” Damian turns away and Dick sees the moue of his mouth, a genuine sort of disappointment--it lends honesty to his claim that Dick is unprepared to deny.

Dick hesitates only a second longer. “Okay,” he says quietly.

Damian’s focus is turned instantly to him. “You’ll stay?”

“Yeah, but-- nothing is going to--” Damian leans in towards him, just hovers close until Dick pulls him into an embrace. “Yeah.”

They situate themselves shoulder to shoulder on the bed, and it’s not cramped, Dick thinks, just... _warm_. He’s hyper aware of every little shift in Damian’s muscles, his breathing. His own breathing is louder than he wants it to be. When Damian’s breathing starts to even out, Dick relaxes into the bed a little more, ignoring that instinctual part of him that wants to cuddle into the heat of the body next to him.

“I don’t want you to be lonely,” Dick whispers, sleep encroaching on his mind like a fog. “Not ever.”

Damian’s eyes open, and once he is certain that Grayson is asleep, he turns to look at him. It’s dark, but his eyesight is better than most. Grayson looks softer in sleep and Damian thinks of those two seconds earlier, the press of his lips to his former mentor’s, Dick’s words replaying in his head.

He has no name for what he feels.

~

“早安。”

Dick opens his eyes blearily to see Alan staring at him. “My Mandarin is rusty,” he says, arching his back and listening to the vertebrae pop. Very suddenly, he sits up.

“Damian went to class,” Alan tells him.

A rush of embarrassment floods Dick. “Oh,” he says, careful not to say too much.

“He had to crawl out from under you,” Alan adds.

Dick shoots him an uneasy smile. “Late night,” he explains, then curses himself as Alan raises an eyebrow. “Not with Damian--” That sounds worse somehow. “Um. 早安？” he says hesitantly, as if he can erase the last minute from Alan’s mind. His tones are off.

Alan just stares at him skeptically.

“Nothing happened,” Dick tries to reiterate defensively. “He’s...like my little brother.”

“Dude, that’s gross.”

“I-- we--” Dick sighs.

Ten minutes later, Alan has headed out to shower and Damian has brought back tea and breakfast burritos from the vegan place across the street. Dick is surprised how good they are and when he tells Damian, the teenager is _un_ surprisingly smug. They eat with the casual camaraderie that had been hard-earned in their first days as Batman and Robin.

Eventually, Dick leaves to go about his day, feeling slightly uncomfortable but light. _Happy_.

~

Dick has no idea why he stays over again the next night, he had come back to pick up his jacket, or so he has convinced himself. They had gotten to talking...and eating...and _maybe_ Dick had bonded a little bit with Alan about how ridiculous Damian could get before Alan and Damian had started speaking fast Mandarin that Dick had trouble following. He was _really_ rusty.

Time had progressed rather rapidly from there and even _Alan_ had okayed another sleepover.

Dick tells Damian nothing will happen for the five hundredth time and Damian just rolls his eyes.

Alan is up for a while longer, doing something or other on his laptop, but he gives them a _look_ and puts in earplugs before he goes to sleep.

Dick scoffs from his slouch on Damian's bed.

“You have a history, Grayson,” Damian says and Dick is distracted for a moment by Damian’s bare feet as he stands in front of him.

The words hit him and he splutters. “What are you--” Damian doesn’t so much as raise an eyebrow and Dick backs down. “Even if I _do_ have a reputation, how would he know?”

Damian shrugs. “You’re very sexual.”

“Am I?” Dick asks, grinning. He only means to tease, but the sudden tension in the air says otherwise.

Damian makes a little sound in his throat and it’s so unlike his usual; this barely filters through Dick’s mind before Damian’s hands are cupping his face and the boy is kissing him, one knee settling between Dick’s thighs on the bed.

Dick’s hands go up to grip Damian’s hips, but his fingertips barely graze his clothes before he forces them back down and grabs onto Damian’s comforter for dear life. He’s kissing back, his lips parting and Damian’s tongue dipping in to slide against his.

It’s a good kiss--hot and hard to stop, but Dick does. With great difficulty.

“Hey.” And Dick doesn’t mean it to come out soft and breathless. He swallows. “ _Hey_ ,” he tries again, and it lends itself much better to the chastising tone he had wanted.

Damian yawns and pushes Dick over.

Dick freezes, thinking--and trying not to _hope_ \--that Damian is about to straddle him and do all sorts of filthy things to him, but he’s relieved-- _disappointed_ \--when Damian snuggles into his chest instead.

It’s a struggle to get them both under the covers this time, but it’s so comfortable and Dick really does _love_ cuddling--which he allows himself to start, knowing it will happen anyway. Damian is...surprisingly cuddly. Dick doesn’t feel very guilty taking advantage of _that_ particular fact after his numerous disclaimers.

He drifts off with Damian pressed to him, his breathing even and seemingly content. When his thoughts are only of the subconscious, they are of sweet kisses turning to more, the shapes fuzzy and divine.

So when Dick wakes up spooning Damian, hard against him, it’s rather unfortunate that his brain is awake enough to warn him against it. Damian snuggles in further, away from the cold, and his ass rubs up against Dick’s erection.

Dick puts his hand on Damian’s hip to still him, but he touches that slice of cool, bare skin, and he has to hold his breath. His heart is beating a bit too fast and he wants to pant and _press_ \--

He needs to leave.

As slowly and carefully as he can, Dick slides out of Damian’s bed. It’s a miracle he doesn’t trip or kick Damian or wake the whole damn building because he is _freaking out_. He manages to grab his things, wincing at the sound of the window sliding open as he scrabbles out and onto a tree branch. He manages to _nearly_ close the window and figures it’s good enough.

Only when his feet hit the ground noiselessly does he allow himself a deep sigh.

Stories above, Damian is very much awake.

~

Dick...avoids Damian for about two weeks after that. Damian doesn’t text him at all, to Dick’s surprise, so there is nothing for him to not respond to. Every time he had checked his phone for the first three days, he had held his breath thinking that would be it, but...nothing. Dick isn’t sure if that’s what he’d been hoping for or not.

It’s just that so thoroughly avoiding Damian after he had _left him in the middle of the night_ might be worse than the guilt he feels about seriously _wanting_ the kid so bad. Or maybe it just adds onto it.

Dick goes to Gotham U, but not up to the dorms. Hell, he doesn’t know if he would be _welcome_. He stakes out the little parking lot between buildings because he just _might’ve_ found out where all of Damian’s classes are in order to bump into him.

“How are your classes going?” Dick asks as soon as Damian has spotted him. He doesn’t get off of his motorcycle, but he wants badly to pretend that everything is normal--even with that voice in his head that’s begging him to apologize.

“I’m fairly certain I’m more intelligent than any of my professors and yet they dislike it when I correct them,” Damian replies smoothly. He’s playing along, Dick thinks.

Dick rolls his eyes. “Come on, you gotta give people a break.”

Damian deflates ever-so-slightly and Dick can see his doubts there for a single second before they’re hidden behind the façade of indifference. “Why? It’s not _my_ problem,” he insists, but there’s a sparkle in his eye that tells Dick that they both know this is just for show.

Dick smiles at him even though he thinks he should frown, should chastise him. “Alright,” he says.

Damian’s mouth definitely forms the little moue of a frown at that. “Why do you seem so pleased?”

Dick shrugs, tapping his fingers against his handlebars. “No reason.” His smile grows wider and Damian humphs.

“Well then,” Damian says with all the false _and_ genuine bravado he can muster and before Dick knows it, Damian is kissing him soundly.

Dick lets out a little noise of surprise, but when Damian hasn’t darted away, he lets his arms wind around Damian’s waist and kisses him back. He tells himself it’s an apology, but it’s the selfish kind--the kind where Dick gets what he wants in the name of giving in to Damian. Damian’s kiss is hungry and all-encompassing and it isn’t long before Dick is losing himself to it as Damian holds him captive. The kiss deepens and Dick feels the slick slide of Damian’s tongue against his own and a groan escapes him.

Suddenly, Damian is gone and Dick is so off-balance he starts to fall off of his bike.

Damian smirks at him, but some of the smugness is perhaps lost in the glow of his cheeks and the red swell of his lips. “Goodbye, Grayson,” he says, and turns to walk towards class.

Dick watches him even after he notices all of the college students and maybe even some faculty staring at him. He’s certain Damian doesn’t care.

With a shake of his head, he thinks of it as Damian’s revenge, but his lips are tingling and the weight of his guilt doesn’t seem like such a burden anymore.

~

Damian starts texting him again, and neither of them bring up the kiss. Damian shows no indication of trying again when they patrol together a few nights later--although they are pretty busy, trying to get the antidote to a mob of the Joker’s rather violent victims--so when it’s over, Dick tells Damian he’ll come by. No big deal.

Dick is out of the shower and about to head over to the university when his phone buzzes. He assumes it’s Damian asking where he is and why he isn’t there yet.

_Bring Alfred._

Dick’s brows furrow in confusion. Does Damian expect for Alfred to do everything for him in the dorm, too? It’s ridiculous, it’s annoying, it’s so--

_Not Pennyworth._

Oh. _Oh_. He texts back.

_Does the dorm allow pets?_

He can hear the tt before the next message.

_Nevermind._

Damian probably hadn’t considered it, he thinks. Before he can type another response, his phone buzzes yet again.

_Todd will do it._

Dick’s eyes nearly roll into the back of his head and he laughs.

~

Jason is still there when Dick arrives and he isn’t sure what he feels when he sees them interacting. Alan isn’t around--probably in class--so it’s just the three of them. Jason ruffles Damian’s hair and Damian doesn’t _actually_ injure him, only threatens to, and Dick is both proud of how far Damian has come and...okay, yeah, that other thing he’s been feeling is probably jealousy.

“He got you running errands, too?” Jason asks and Dick shakes his head.

“Nah. We were just gonna hang out, maybe get something to eat.”

“Mind if I join you? The brat here oughtta buy me lunch--I had to sneak into the manor to pick up that fucking cat.” There’s something off about what he says, but not enough for the others to pinpoint what exactly it might be.

“Don’t talk that way about Alfred,” Damian scolds, scratching the cat’s ears.

“So, you made a deal with Alan?” Dick asks, gesturing. He wonders if Damian will answer Jason’s question. Dick is usually more than happy to spend time with both of them these days, but right now he’s less sure.

Damian dangles a string before Alfred. “He’s allergic,” he tells them seriously.

Jason looks at Dick, thumb jabbed in Damian’s direction. “I’m so proud of that kid.”

~

After their lunch--during which Jason had chain-smoked and put down a blood-spattered twenty dollar bill to pay with--Dick and Damian are alone.

Dick had eaten most of Damian’s fries even though Jason had gotten a slap on the hand for making an attempt at them. When Dick had asked, Damian had told him, _“I don’t care about them, Grayson. I care about you.”_

Jason had had to clear his throat and Dick had choked on one of his stolen French fries. _“Th-thanks,”_ he’d managed and they had moved on without discussing it, although the tension had lingered, _still_ lingers.

Alan is due to arrive back any minute and see Alfred, so Dick leaves Damian at the door.

“I should…” Dick starts, gesturing away.

Damian gives a decisive nod and Dick has just barely started to turn when Damian says, “Grayson.”

There’s silence.

Damian’s gaze is steady. “I’ve wanted to kiss you for a long time.”

“Um.” Dick wants to tell Damian that his feelings are valid, but that they can’t act on them. That he’s nearly _thirty years old_.

He realizes this will mean nothing to Damian.

Damian needs to hear that Dick isn’t interested in the slightest, that the kiss was an apology--an instinctual one, at that.

But the words won’t come and he goes for a different sort of answer. “Who wouldn’t?” he asks with a grin.

Damian raises an aristocratic eyebrow and Dick thinks that the teenager understands him completely.

~

Robin and Nightwing are out on patrol together, Bruce having gone to some charity function or another. Damian had been invited, but he had refused--to Bruce’s relief, it seemed. Jason had shown up at the manor in a _suit_ for some reason though.

Dick and Damian stop a couple of small-time crimes--a mugging, an attempted assault--and then a lull hits. There’s word of a would-be supervillain holding an entire business hostage, but Cass and Stephanie are in town and seem to have it taken care of before Dick and Damian can get a foot in that direction.

Damian looks bored.

“Do you wanna go...do something?”

“If you’re asking me if I’d like kiss you on the rooftop of my father’s company, the answer is yes.”

“D-- _Robin_. There are cameras up there, you know.”

Damian gives a small shrug. “There are cameras everywhere, Nightwing. Are you scared of my father?”

“Yeah,” Dick says. “Maybe. I mean, he _is_ Batman.” He’s grinning though. He isn’t certain about this turn in their relationship, but no matter his own apprehensions, he hates the idea of Damian’s disappointment at his rejection. He looks in the direction of Wayne Enterprises. “How ’bout we go up there to talk?”

Five minutes later, he’s making out with Damian on the roof and Damian’s hands have traveled to his ass, pulling their bodies in tight together. Dick groans at the contact, losing himself in the feeling of Damian against him, before he realizes what has happened.

“We should talk about this,” he says, trying to ignore how hard he is beneath the suit and thankful that the cup keeps it from getting too weird--uncomfortable as it is with an erection.

“What is there to talk about?” Damian lets him go, although not far.

Dick shifts. “This? Us? I mean, we...” He shrugs his shoulders, at a loss, and tries to ignore the way his dick throbs.

“ _We_ were kissing,” Damian says matter-of-factly. “And I would like to continue doing so.”

Dick looks at Damian, the way the teenager is slightly flushed and yet sounds so calm. His gaze flickers between the lenses of Damian’s mask and the boy’s swollen red lips. Dick can feel his resolve crumbling and Damian seems to know, what with how he leans up, hands on Dick’s sides. Pulling back just enough to make some semblance of eye contact, Dick adds, “ _Just_ kissing. Okay?”

“ _-tt-_ ” It's a puff of breath against Dick’s lips.

“Okay,” Dick agrees with himself before he’s kissing Robin again.

~

It turns into a regular occurrence. Just kissing turns into just over-the-clothes turns into Dick having to wear a pair of Damian’s pants because his had become...less than wearable.

He feels bad for Alan. Really, truly bad.

But it doesn’t stop him from letting Damian tackle him the second Alan leaves the room.

They talk, too. But given Damian’s age and Dick’s sensibilities, their relationship is very physical, and that’s alright until it’s not.

When their hips grind together, Dick’s erection bumping against Damian’s through too many layers of fabric, Damian’s hand strays to the fly of Dick’s jeans.

“Damian,” Dick says, pulling back. “It’s your first time. That’s a big deal.” They’ve discussed it, perhaps too many times and with varying degrees of influence.

“It’s just sex,” Damian tells him, but Dick can see the nerves beneath the confidence of his voice. He looks debauched, his short hair tweaked in different directions, lips red and swollen, clothes rumpled.

Damian wants to be _fucked_ \--another thing they’ve discussed in far too much detail--and Dick wants to fuck him so bad that he’s in literal _pain_. He groans, hating just about everything in that moment. “Call Commissioner Gordon and tell him I’m turning myself in.” He drops his forehead onto the mattress next to Damian’s shoulder.

“Shouldn’t you at least commit the crime first?” Damian cocks his head, shifting his hips unconsciously.

“I _can’t_ ,” Dick says, pulling away. He stands up and runs a hand through his hair.

Damian sighs. “Fine. I can take care of myself.”

“Yeah-- what?” Dick watches as Damian proceeds to shimmy out of his jeans and boxer briefs, opening his dresser drawer and pulling out a bottle of lube. He slicks two of his fingers and reaches between his legs, pressing them into himself.

Dick’s whole mouth has gone dry and if he _could_ think, he’d probably remind himself that breathing is a necessity. “What are you…” His pants are too tight and he wants to adjust himself, but drawing attention to that region of his body is ill-advised--some part of his brain tries to warn him so, at least, but he’s quickly forgetting why exactly that is.

Damian closes his eyes. “Imagining you doing this, you _fucking me_.”

Dick bites his lip. He needs to resist. He needs to-- Somehow he has stepped closer. Dick feels like a pervert, standing there as Damian fingers himself, breath catching as Damian’s other hand goes to his own cock.

“Grayson.”

“I’m-- I’m not going to take advantage of you.”

Damian opens his eyes, blinks slowly at Dick like he’s stupid. “I think you may have this situation backwards,” he tells him, spreading his legs to give Dick a better view. He pushes in another finger and Dick can’t help noticing how at ease he looks doing it.

“What do you think about?” Dick asks and wishes that he hadn’t.

Damian pulls his fingers from himself. “Always you,” he says.

That should not be as hot as it is and Dick stifles the noise that tries to escape. “Damian…”

“I’m ready,” Damian tells him, making eye contact. “Are you?”

Dick desperately wants to say no--and he could, he thinks, he could say no. But he doesn’t want to. And Damian doesn’t want him to. He doesn’t take off his clothes, although his cock strains against his jeans uncomfortably, bordering on painfully. “Dami,” he murmurs, leaning over the boy and kissing him. Damian’s hands try to scrabble for his clothes and Dick grabs him by his wrists, pinning him.

“Hmmph.” Damian pulls away to look Dick in the eye. “You know I can escape from this.”

Dick smirks. “I know.” He covers Damian’s body with his own, sharing breath with Damian as he speaks, “But if we’re doing this, we’re doing it my way.” He holds Damian’s wrists with one hand, the boy having gone lax at his words. Dick knows he’s waiting and this sort of patience is pleasing to see. He rewards him with a peck as he manages to slick his fingers using only that same hand--not too difficult for someone who has to hone all the skills he has.

“I already--” Damian starts at the sound and Dick cuts him off with another kiss.

“I know,” Dick says again, and he feels his cock twitch, the memory so fresh and Damian underneath him. “I saw.”

“So why are you--” He sucks in a breath as Dick’s finger circles him, a firm but gentle press of the first digit as he slides it inside.

Damian’s stretch had been quick and, in Dick’s more experienced opinion, not nearly enough. “My way,” he repeats, and there’s a hint of his old Batman voice to it, like it’s an order.

“-tt-” The boy is trying for annoyed, but the way he shifts tells Dick otherwise.

“How is it?” Dick asks, considering the addition of another finger. His hands are bigger than Damian’s, his fingers thicker, but the teenager had opened himself up some. Dick would rather subject himself to the worst torture the Joker--or, fuck, _Bruce_ \--could think up than hurt Damian unnecessarily, not like this.

Damian sighs, his wrists under the pressure of Dick’s hand still, Dick’s weight. “Let go.” His eyes flicker to Dick’s almost dangerously and Dick does.

“Okay,” Dick says. “Alright.” His hand settles closer to Damian’s side, leaving more space between them. He notes the dark flush in Damian’s cheeks and feels his own heart rate increasing, his own breathing coming heavier. He wants to touch himself, to relieve himself a little at least. Instead he pushes another finger into Damian.

Damian squirms, but he adjusts to it quickly, challenging Dick with the way he eyes him evenly, relaxes his body.

Dick chuckles, but he doesn’t do what Damian wants. He fucks him slowly with two fingers, Damian is tight around them and Dick can only imagine how the boy would feel around his cock. He groans, dropping his head to Damian’s shoulder.

“I don’t have any condoms,” Dick realizes.

“No need,” Damian assures him. “I am without disease, as are you.”

Dick’s eyebrows draw together. “Wait, how do you know that?” He shakes his head. “What am I talking about? Of _course_ you do. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t practice safe sex.”

“I think I’ve already explained to you that this is _safe_ , although I find your concern ironic given our other lifestyle choices.”

Dick bites his lip. No comeback is there at the ready, so he nods instead. “Fair point.” He works a third finger into the boy, flexing them and noting the way Damian’s breathing changes. He fucks them into Damian, shifting the angle as goes, opening Damian up.

“That is _quite_ enough, Grayson,” Damian says and Dick watches his fingers for a moment, the stretch of Damian’s ass around them, before he slides them out gently.

Dick frees himself-- _finally_ \--giving his cock a squeeze. “Damian,” he says. “Why do you want to do this with me?” It's a sort of test, and perhaps cruel to ask so late in the game, but he needs to hear Damian’s answer. They talk about sex and crime and food and all sorts of things, but not _feelings_ , and Dick is finding himself incredibly nervous about that fact suddenly.

“It’s the logical choice, Grayson,” Damian declares. “You are smart, physically attractive, in excellent physical health, and you don’t annoy me like the others. I doubt the average”--the word is said with a sneer--“human being could handle me.”

“Oh.” Dick opens his mouth to express his disappointment, but closes it just as quickly at the way Damian can’t look at him, struggling with something.

“And I…” Damian is _red_. “Have a certain emotional attachment to you that I have trouble defining.” He scrunches up his face.

“ _Oh_ ,” Dick says as Damian’s meaning dawns on him.

“-tt- Perhaps I was wrong about your intelligence.” Damian looks so extremely uncomfortable that Dick can’t help but find it adorable.

Dick kisses him thoroughly, in the hope of expressing his own feelings and suppressing his ecstatic grin. It doesn’t quite work as when he breaks the kiss, his smile is still there and as bright as ever. “I _like_ you, Damian,” Dick says. “I like you and I care about you. A lot.” Damian looks slightly mortified and Dick takes pity on him, slicking his cock. He goes in so carefully and it feels so good, he thinks he might explode.

Damian has to concentrate on regulating his breathing. It hurts, but he isn’t about to admit that. He isn’t about to give up. He wants this.

“Fuck,” Dick murmurs, holding himself still as every instinct screams at him to move. “You okay?”

“Are _you_?” Damian returns.

Laughing, Dick shakes his head. “Not remotely.”

Damian waits, but it’s strange. He’s so full and the burn of it is just starting to recede but Dick seems to be holding his breath, his every muscle tense. Damian lifts his hips in encouragement and Dick lets out a long, even breath. Taking his cock into his hand, Damian strokes himself, watching Dick’s shoulders where the muscles start to shift. Carefully, he starts to move himself, fucking himself on Dick’s cock. He wants it so bad it feels like he _needs_ it and when a little whine escapes him, Dick appears to snap out of his trance.

Dick looks down between them--Damian’s hand on his cock, the way their bodies move together--and lets himself act. He slides himself almost all the way out and thrusts back in with one smooth motion.

This knocks loose a moan Damian had been trying to hold in, his hand still on his cock. He’s already close, Dick knows. 

Dick rolls his hips and swallows down the sounds that are coming from Damian--the boy had begun _chanting_ his name as his thighs clenched around Dick’s waist and maybe Dick is stifling some of his own noises, too.

Dick doesn’t move fast, but instead slow and careful, angling his hips just right as he kisses Damian. He wants to impart meaning, to impart that feeling neither is ready to say out loud. He fucks him lovingly because he can’t say he loves him.

Damian’s breath hitches and his whole body goes tight and it’s beautiful in a way Dick isn’t prepared for, has him shuddering and quaking and spilling into him.

Dick holds Damian close as his heartbeat tries to normalize. “Oh, god,” he whispers, waves of pleasure lap at his thoughts as he comes down from his orgasm. He just fucked Damian. He just fucked the son of the Batman. He pulls away when Damian starts to wriggle uncomfortably, can’t help pressing a kiss to the boy’s temple.

Damian stretches and enjoys the new ache of his body.

“We need to date,” Dick says, with a nod to himself.

“-tt- Why? Dating is for people to get to know each other. I already know you.”

Dick sighs, scratching the back of Damian’s neck. Guilt has started roiling in his belly, but Damian is so _happy_ and Dick is, too, if he’s honest with himself. It’s just that the morality of the situation is a bit too questionable for him not to think of Bruce, what his mentor would’ve said. “No. Damian…” He lets out a laugh. “It’s for having fun, going out and doing something together.”

“Like patrol,” Damian suggests seriously.

Dick wants to roll his eyes, but the sincerity has him clutching Damian to him closer instead. “Like...like _dancing_.”

“Mmph.” Damian bites Dick’s chest, right over a hickey he had left earlier.

Dick swats him away. “I’m _serious_ , Damian. I’ll take you to a concert or something.”

“You just want to see Kesha next month.”

“Great idea, Damian,” Dick says, pushing Damian’s shoulder out. He kisses Damian and Damian takes full advantage. Dick feels the budding swell of Damian’s cock against his thigh and his own gives a weak twitch. He huffs out a chuckle beneath Damian’s jaw, nudging Damian’s erection with his leg. “I’m an old man, Dami. You sure you want to get into this with me?”

“Even _Father_ is hardly _old_ , Grayson. You are...” He sighs, moving unconsciously against the friction, although he isn’t looking for anything out of it. “You are Richard Grayson. That’s all that matters.”

Dick doesn’t know what to say to that, just rubs Damian’s back gently until all they’re doing is cuddling.

Alfred takes the opportunity to hop up onto the bed and meow at them loudly.

~

They end patrol a couple of nights later with their costumes askew in an alley, Dick has both of their cocks in his hand as best he can grip them and they rut against each other as he makes some half-assed attempt at jerking them off.

It’s quick and dirty and Dick is glad he has a backup costume--and that he no longer lives in Wayne Manor, where all laundry is done by Alfred. It’s bad enough as it is.

It’s 12:02AM when Dick checks the time and he looks at Damian curiously. “Isn’t it your birthday?”

“-tt- I don’t have a _birthday_ , Grayson.”

“Everyone has a birthday,” Dick tells him, ignoring Damian’s scowl. “Sixteen,” he says, stomach clenching at how young that still sounds.

“Old enough,” Damian says, and Dick hates the way Damian knows him so well. Damian has _died_. Damian damn well deserves to live a little.

~

Dick feels inexplicably nervous as he knocks on the door, but perhaps it has something to do with the way the students in the hallway are eyeing him. He’s in great shape, sure, for his age, but he’s probably got a decade on most of them. He’s got near a decade and a _half_ on Damian. This is why he and the window are friends.

Damian opens the door. “Grayson,” he greets, lifting an eyebrow. He kisses him there, leaning half into the hallway as he does and Dick blushes.

Damian does it because he sees the way some of the other college students look at Dick and he needs them to know that Dick is _his_. Dick doesn’t really get this, too panicked with the thought of how old he is and how old Damian isn’t when faced with so many freshmen.

Dick steps in, footing a bit shaky, and is vaguely aware of the door closing behind him. He notices the textbook open on the desk and the laptop next to it. “Were you doing homework?” It sounds stupid. He’s aware that it must happen, but he’s never actually witnessed it.

“Yes,” Damian replies easily. “Does that surprise you?”

“No, I just--” Dick swallows. “Anything I can help with?”

“-tt- Doubtful.” Damian walks over and closes his laptop. “You seem nervous.” He looks Dick up and down.

With a shrug, Dick admits it. “Maybe,” he says. “Damian…” He breathes out sharply through his nose and lets it go, giving Damian a soft smile. “Don’t worry about it.”

His words cause Damian to frown, but their change in position is sudden and Damian is dropping to his knees.

“Oookay,” Dick manages, getting hard at just the implication.

In what must be record time, Dick’s ass is pressed against the edge of the desk and Damian’s head bobs, eyes darting up to meet Dick’s.

There’s the noise of the lock and then the door is opening. Alan doesn’t notice immediately, his phone in his hand, but that lasts only a second. “为什么?” he asks with a whine.

Damian doesn’t stop, doesn’t so much as hesitate, and Dick has no sense left in his brain, managing a smile and a wave.

Alan steps in and drops his book bag, snatching something from his own desk, and leaving with a heavy sigh aimed at the cat on his bed.

“Damian, shouldn’t we st-- _op_!” He shudders as Damian doubles his efforts, his hand fondling Dick’s balls. “Oh-- oh, fuck, Dami, I’m gonna come, I--”

Damian sucks him through his orgasm, tonguing him softly and swallowing after he releases Dick’s cock.

Dick’s breathing slowly evens out and he watches as Damian backs off, a visible tent in his sweatpants. “You know, you might be the devil.”

“I’ll assume that’s a compliment.” The Demon Head’s grandson is hardly insulted by such a comparison. Damian shifts his feet slightly and Dick sighs.

“C’mere,” Dick murmurs against his lips and kisses him, slipping his hand beneath the elastic of Damian’s waistband and taking him in hand. He jerks him quickly, his technique sloppy as he tastes himself on Damian's tongue. He backs Damian against the bed, Damian’s breathing harsh as Dick keeps working his cock. Dick grins when Damian moans, hands fisting into the fabric of Dick’s t-shirt.

Damian comes with a stuttered gasp, his legs shaky underneath him. He leans back heavily against the bed. “You’re buying me a new pair of sweats,” he tells Dick seriously, although it’s raspier than he had intended.

Dick pulls his hand free and wipes it on Damian’s pants. “You wanna go shopping?”

~

The concert approaches too quickly, but that’s to be expected for two that are so engrossed in their new relationship. It’s loud and Damian resorts to jabbing Dick when the man fails to pay enough attention to him.

“This is _fun_ for you, Grayson?” Damian has to shout and it takes a few seconds to process.

When it does, Dick only nods enthusiastically.

Damian is about to pull out his phone but Dick drags him into the crowd instead. “What are you doing?” he yells, but the words are barely intelligible.

“Dancing with you,” Dick calls back, swaying to the rhythm of the song, his hand sliding from Damian’s wrist, down his arm to settle on his side. “Come on!”

Damian pouts, but when it seems this is doing him no good, he tugs Dick to him by the collar of his ridiculous t-shirt--one that he had also bought for Damian at the merch table, although Damian vehemently refused to wear it. Damian kisses Dick, wrapping his arms around Dick’s waist and when Dick keeps dancing, perhaps Damian’s body _happens_ to sway with his.

“Did you have a good time?” Dick asks him when they’ve left the venue. He’s sweaty, shirt sticking to his chest and hair slick with it. He downs an entire bottle of water and offers one to Damian.

Damian only takes a small sip from his bottle and purses his lips. “I was with you,” he says.

Dick hums. He’s starting to think those words mean “yes” in Damian’s language, that they always have.

~

Damian stays in Dick’s apartment that night, having texted Jason to check on Alfred back in his dorm room.

(Despite his allergies and the massive amount of complaints Alan had given him when he’d discovered Damian’s pet sleeping on his bed, the other boy had taken a liking to the cat. _“He’s a much better roommate than you are,”_ Alan had said, sniffling as he popped an allergy med.)

Dick strips down to boxers--as if he had any modesty left--and flops down onto his bed, patting the spot beside him in invitation. “A good kind of exhausted,” he says with a sigh.

Damian doesn’t stop at boxers when he takes off his clothes, completely naked as he climbs onto the bed.

Pillowing his head on his arm to watch him, Dick has to swallow or choke on his own tongue. 

“Couldn’t stay up for a few more minutes?” Damian asks, nuzzling the inside of Dick’s thigh and is rewarded by the twitch of Dick’s cock, the gradual rise of it.

Damian mouths at him wetly through the thin fabric of Dick’s underwear, sucking lightly until Dick is completely hard. He pulls him free and all Dick manages is, “You don’t have to-- okay.” His voice goes high, breaks off as Damian’s lips wrap around him, mouth hot. “I’m all sweaty,” he says and Damian seems to inhale deeply before he takes him as far down his throat as he can.

It doesn’t escape Dick’s notice the way Damian’s hand strays to his own cock as he sucks him, his hand jerking without real rhythm, a noise ripped out of him that’s muffled into delicious vibration around Dick’s cock.

“Oh, fuck, Damian--” His hips jerk up and he stops himself before he accidentally chokes Damian, but he’s already close. Damian is so damn enthusiastic and Dick can tell how much he’s enjoying it, can see the way Damian’s shoulders shake ever-so-slightly, the faltering of his strokes as he brings himself to the edge, too. “I’m gonna--”

Damian practically _swallows_ him and Dick is coming hard, hands clutching at nothing and leaving moon-shaped indents on his palms. Damian doesn’t pull back all through it, not until Dick is finished, and Dick’s cock gives one last twitch in an attempt at life as he watches Damian spill over his own hand, onto the sheets, nearly choking himself on Dick as he does.

Damian then proceeds to use those same sheets to clean himself up. “ _Hey_ ,” Dick protests as Damian turns him around, molds himself against Dick’s back and wraps an arm around him.

“Your sheets were _filthy_ , Grayson. Now you’ll _have_ to wash them,” Damian says seriously, as if sucking cock isn’t his new favorite thing.

Dick laughs, settling back against Damian. “I wash them enough,” he grumbles.

“-tt-”

It’s the last sound Dick hears before he drifts off, and perhaps this isn’t a bad thing.

~

In the morning, Dick slides two fingers into Damian and fucks him slowly with them, enjoying the sounds he draws out. He crooks them slightly and Damian’s whole body spasms, goes tight. “Good?” he asks, just to be sure.

Damian nods, seems unable to answer, and Dick presses a third finger in, adjusting until Damian keens again. He keeps fucking him like that, until Damian is thrashing at the feel of it.

It’s too much and Dick’s hand goes to the teenager’s cock but he’s barely even _touched_ it before Damian is coming in thick stripes over his own chest and abs, whole body clenching and unclenching.

Dick pulls his fingers free, all slow and careful. He takes a little taste of Damian’s come and finds that he likes it, ends up taking his time licking Damian clean and feeling the muscles in Damian’s abs tense and shift as he does. Damian is quiet as he does.

“Are you okay?” Dick asks finally.

“Fuck me,” Damian tells him, without preamble.

Dick balks at him. “What?”

The noise Damian makes must explain, because the next thing Dick knows, he’s sidling up behind Damian. He hooks Damian’s knee over his arm to give him better access and Damian is practically a ragdoll as he moves him--if ragdolls urged people to do filthy things to them.

Dick presses kisses to the nape of Damian’s neck as he fucks and Damian doesn’t even find _words_.

It’s like the world doesn’t exist. 

~

Damian decides it’s his turn to take Dick on a date the next time they’re free, but it ends up being mid-December, after his last day of finals.

He takes Dick to an upscale vegetarian restaurant and Dick feels rather remiss for not having thought of this. Had he even bothered to look, he knows this would’ve been a perfect spot for him to take Damian--snooty and vegetarian in one place, exactly what Damian likes.

“I didn’t even know this place existed,” Dick admits, hoping his suit doesn’t look too shabby.

“Of course not, Grayson.” Damian says it like it’s _obvious_ , and maybe it is. He orders for both of them and it’s somehow endearing instead of obnoxious. Very soon Dick is going to have to say those three little words, but he can last just a _bit_ longer.

The meal is delicious, but they’re expected at the manor tonight and the thought has Dick on edge until he remembers Bruce is gone for the next two days and they will only have to speak to Alfred--and cat Alfred, whom Damian had returned home earlier.

~

They had gotten to Wayne Manor just fine, chauffeured from the restaurant by Alfred. Alfred was kind enough not to ask, although Dick is certain Damian has an alibi for their behavior, anyway.

The moment Alfred tells them he is _“rather tired, sirs”_ \--which Dick sees right through--they’re all over each other in one of the sitting rooms.

Dick can’t focus on anything but the obscene way his cock disappears into Damian’s body as the teenager rides him. He splays his hand over the small of Damian’s back and bites his lip. He’s leaned back against the arm of the sofa and he _knows_ they could be caught, but Damian had been so convincing.

Damian is thin and lithe, like his mother, and he’s still probably got some growing to do, although Dick doubts he’ll ever fill out as much as Bruce had, despite all his training. Damian rolls his hips and Dick can’t help thinking that his cock looks almost too big for Damian.

The way Damian whimpers seems both an affirmation and a denial of this. He fucks up into him. They’re trying so hard to be quiet--and it isn’t hard having been trained as they were for combat. “Grayson,” Damian murmurs, working himself down faster, Dick’s thrusting up in time to meet him, to drive himself deeper into Damian’s body.

Dick would feel guilty about coming first if he didn’t know how badly Damian wanted him to. He jerks Damian with quick strokes until he feels the boy tremble at his own finish.

They’re panting and haven’t come apart, but they still at the almost unnoticeable creak of the floorboards. There is the click of claws, however, and Damian rolls his eyes as Titus stares at him hopefully.

Damian ends up in Dick’s room with him for the night--despite protests about impropriety--and this means that Titus joins them, too.

(Dick may be happier with this than Damian is.)

~

It’s only when he wakes up the next morning that Dick thinks they should’ve stayed in separate rooms. Alfred has allowed them their privacy, for some reason--although Titus has somehow escaped--but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t get ready.

“We have things to do-- Tim will be here any minute,” Dick is trying to argue, but somehow legs have wrapped around his. He’s effectively trapped.

“Grayson.”

~

Tim has already seen the note. Alfred is out doing some last minute shopping for the holidays. All of the boys will be there and Alfred knows he needs _supplies_ for this sort of thing--like he’s stocking up for the apocalypse. After Tim has put down his things and settled back into his old room, he thinks of what to do next.

It seems rude not to tell Dick that he’s arrived, even if he’s less keen on running into Damian. He doubts Damian will be anywhere but the batcave right now though, as Batman’s son takes his duties seriously. He’s far too intense, but at least he seems a little better now about not killing people.

Damian is back from college for the holidays, and he _is_ still Robin, but Tim knows Dick has already come back, too, if partially by the half-eaten food in the fridge he knows that Bruce and Damian wouldn’t be caught dead eating themselves.

Tim and Damian don’t exactly get along, even now. It’s been a year since they’d gotten into the last, _brief_ physical fight though--a record for them. It means spending some time at Wayne Manor, all of them together, is something Tim thinks might actually go well.

After another look around, finding not too much has changed--nor did he expect it to--Tim makes his way to Dick’s bedroom. Out of politeness, he knocks, but, without thinking, he begins to open the door anyway.

This is without a doubt one of the most awkward moments of Timothy Drake’s--no, _Wayne’s_ \--life. As quickly as he’s seen them and the way they scrabble to cover themselves up--well, Dick does, Damian looks pretty furious and unwilling, actually--he already knows too much. 

Dick’s face is bright red as he looks at the ceiling in hopes the earth will choose this moment to swallow him up.

“Get out of here, Drake,” Damian growls and although Tim hates taking orders, especially from Damian of all people, this has been traumatic enough without prolonging his exposure to naked Dick and Damian.

Shit. _Dick and Damian_.

He retreats, closing the door, and walks briskly back down to the kitchen. He’s not sure what to think. A myriad of things shoot through his mind--how this had started, Damian’s age, if anyone knows, whether he thinks Dick is a criminal, if Damian had somehow tricked the first Robin. Then, he again just thinks: _how_? How did _those two_ end up together? And how had he not known?

Well, the lattermost question is the easiest. For all that he likes to know everything about everyone, he supposes he’d been rather purposefully ignorant in this case. The idea of Dick and Damian together is still ludicrous after catching them mid-coitus. He keeps thinking of Damian as just a difficult kid who dropped into his life and completely ruined it.

Tim debates calling Kon in the hope of some comfort from his boyfriend, but... Well, it’s all too awkward right now. Too strange. Plus, Kon would likely just laugh at him.

Instead, he goes over plans for his team, and, once he has calmed down a little more, he texts Bunker. Miguel will appreciate the drama and they’ve already discussed their _own_ sex lives in what Tim considers to be too much detail. This is probably something Jason would love to know about, too, but Bunker is far enough removed that Tim doesn’t feel bad telling him.

Sending a text that says _Nightwing is screwing Robin_ is difficult enough.

Receiving back _¿¿¿QUÉ???_ at least helps lighten the mood.

~

“Fuck,” Dick says, attempting to slide out of bed and gather his clothes.

“Is what we haven’t finished doing, Grayson,” Damian adds after a little noise of annoyance.

“Damian…” Dick starts, looking at the teenager and away again. He can’t believe he’s let himself fuck up this badly. Fucking Bruce’s sixteen-year-old son? No way that isn’t a terrible decision. That he keeps doing it is only proof of that. Tim catching them is the slap of harsh reality he’s been needing...besides being embarrassing beyond belief. What can he say to redeem himself to Tim? “We shouldn’t be doing this,” he says, before amending, “I shouldn’t be.” All these things he’s thought of before, that he’s _said_ before, suddenly seem large and important and _how_ could Dick have allowed himself to forget for so long?

In the second of utter self-loathing Dick allows himself, shaking, before he resumes his search for his pants, Damian is already sliding onto his lap, skin hot against his. They’re nearly the same height now, and he knows Damian will surpass him, but for now, like this, their faces are nearly level.

“Grayson…” Damian sighs, swallows. “Richard.”

Damian calling him by his first name is rare, and each time, it leaves Dick powerless to him.

Damian continues, “I wanted to be with you. For whatever reason, I still do.” When he kisses him, it’s almost as if he’s giving Dick a choice...but he has also worked very hard to get what he wants and he’s not giving up that easily.

Although temporarily shamed into defeat, Dick is getting hard again, unable to resist the kiss of his former Robin, the way Damian’s tongue delves into his mouth demandingly as soon as Dick has responded and reciprocated. It always feels as if Damian is trying to devour him, as if he needs all of the love he can get, although he’ll never admit to it. Dick doesn’t ever want to deny him that, not really. “I’m sorry,” he whispers, shaking his head. “It’s been months and I just… I never want to hurt you.” He picks up one of Damian’s hands and presses a kiss to his palm.

“You haven’t,” Damian tells him. He reaches between them, strokes Dick a few times, and lifts his own body up before sliding back down. It’s not like this is new for them.

Dick’s hands move to Damian’s hips and when Damian breaks the kiss to adjust, Dick tells him what he’s been avoiding for so long, what Damian needs to hear: “I love you.”

Damian huffs as if in annoyance, shifts his hips, begins to move determinedly.

Dick nuzzles into his neck, planting kisses there and down the boy’s collarbone, up to his jaw, to his ear. “I love you, Damian. So much.”

“Quiet, Grayson.”

He feels the momentary tensing of Damian’s body, knows the effect his words have. He takes pity on the boy, fucking up into him, hand grasping Damian’s cock.

Damian groans, pushing Dick’s back onto the bed and riding him faster, with almost too much force.

Damian’s eyes are squeezed shut, but Dick can see the wetness in the boy’s lashes, how those words can bring him to tears when Damian has tried so hard to seem invincible to everyone else. “Look at me, Dami,” he says, fingers toying with the teenager’s cock now. It’s times like this that he feels most right in what he’s doing, knowing how he can make Damian feel.

Damian just shakes his head, ever so slightly, and Dick pulls him forward, until he’s bowed over him, head buried in Dick’s chest and fingers clawing at his former mentor’s sides.

He never stops moving, little gasps escaping him.

He flips them after the briefest of indications. Damian’s panting, hot air puffing against Dick’s ear as he throws his head back. “Look at me,” Dick repeats. Damian’s fingers are bruising him as they dig into his back. The way the boy loses control in this and nothing else has Dick cherishing the fact that he can see him in these moments, so beautiful, so much softer without his harsh words to push the world away.

“Gr-- Grayson,” Damian tries to say but it’s not convincing in its attempt at menace. His eyes finally flutter open and Dick holds his gaze, hips shifting, fucking him in a way Damian tells him is too tender and yet always makes the boy lose his breath.

Damian makes a little noise without meaning to and Dick’s hand moves back to Damian’s cock. To spare Damian what is tantamount to losing in the teenager’s eyes, he hooks one of Damian’s legs over his shoulder and lets himself get lost in the feeling of Damian all around him, the smell of sex and sweat heavy in the air. Damian turns his head to the side, brings up his arm to bite down on, to silence himself as Dick finally fucks him harder, jerking him off as he does.

Dick’s breathing is harsh and he attempts to pull out, only to have Damian perform an acrobatic feat all his own, maneuvering himself back on top, his knees now bracketing Dick’s thighs tightly, and moaning as Dick tips over the edge. Dick’s hand is quick, skilled, and he swallows the sounds of Damian murmuring his name in what isn’t quite a kiss as the teenager comes.

“I love you,” he says again, afterward. It’s like he can’t stop now that he’s started. Damian glares at him, but he doesn’t protest.

“And I you,” Damian finally says, after so long the previous statement could have almost been forgotten.

Damian has never said it before either, but Dick knows he means it. This little fact has Dick so pleased it outweighs the dread of the talk he’s going to have with Tim...and, eventually, with Bruce.

~

Tim goes out on patrol and it’s then that Dick catches up with him. “Red Robin,” Dick greets, landing beside him on a rooftop.

It’s childish the way Tim says nothing, stares in the opposite direction, but he’s always looked up to Dick Grayson--the golden boy. He doesn’t know who he’s more upset with, but he’s definitely...angry.

Dick isn’t deterred. He knows that he has a responsibility to uphold, as the oldest and in general. He is--and he feels guilty enough about this as it is--the _actual_ adult in his relationship and he can’t even imagine how horribly this conversation might go if it were Tim and _Damian_. “We need to talk.”

“I can’t believe you, Nightwing,” Tim says finally, when no criminals give him an easy out.

Dick pushes his finger to his ear, makes certain the communicator is off. “Is it the age thing?” he jokes, and, ow, that hurts him every time to say out loud, especially without Damian there to reassure him.

Tim looks at him hard then. “And that it’s _him_.”

Dick hums thoughtfully. “You two have never gotten along, but it doesn’t mean we all aren’t family--that you two aren’t brothers.” _The Waynes_ , he wants to add, but he won’t risk saying it--Damian refuses to acknowledge the name change anyhow.

“We’re all brothers?” Tim asks. “Is that really the argument you want to make right now?”

Dick grins. “Fair point. But I think you know what I mean.”

“How long?”

Dick scrunches up his face. “Two months, maybe three.” It depends on where he starts his count, but his calculations are looking a bit faulty.

“And you’re already sleeping together?” Tim asks, voice rising perhaps a _bit_ too high.

Laughing, Dick returns, “Oh? How long did you wait with Kon?”

“Two”--Dick opens his mouth, looking triumphant--“years.”

Dick’s expression crashes. “Really? That long? I don’t know if I’ve ever waited that long.”

The look Tim gives him has him practically swimming in guilt. “Shouldn’t you...know better?”

Dick swings his legs over the side of the building. “It’s complicated.”

“It’s Robin,” Tim says, his tone conveying all that he thinks of Damian.

“I’m in love with him.”

Tim pulls a face. “How? _Why_?”

This, at least, brings a genuine smile to Dick’s face. It’s just...true. He thinks about Damian and all his aggression and how he’s changed and how he hasn’t.

“Gross,” Tim says, watching Dick with a degree of morbid fascination. “I don’t approve, but I’m not going to...tell on you.”

“Thanks,” Dick says. “I’m sorry you saw--”

“Ah! Don’t say it. I don’t want to think about it.”

Tim is furiously texting when Dick finally leaves him alone.

~

It’s Jason that Dick comes clean to next.

“You knew?” Dick asks, blushing.

Jason tilts his head. “Who do you think gave that kid the talk? Not that he really needed it.” He smirks. “Although he did ask some very specific questions.”

Dick laughs a bit awkwardly.

“Does B know?” Jason raises an eyebrow at Dick, already certain of his answer.

Dick lets out a slow breath. “What am I supposed to tell him? That I’m dating Damian? That it’s...serious?”

“Sounds better than, ‘Hey, Bruce, I’m fucking your teenage son. Don’t call the cops.’” He lights a cigarette, amused as Dick chokes.

“You shouldn’t smoke,” Dick says and bums the cigarette off of Red Hood anyway, taking a long drag. He knows it’s bad for him, but it does help to calm his nerves. Jason doesn’t say anything about it and he’s grateful. “I’m supposed to tell him tonight. It’s...nerve-wracking.”

“Are you going to?” Jason bites his lip. “It might not be the best timing.”

“You two fighting again?”

He can’t read Jason’s expression. “Yeah, something like that.”

“Fuck.” He taps his fingers against the bench. “I gotta tell him, Jay.”

“Hmmm. Maybe tomorrow?”

Dick gives him a curious look.

“Give us time to kiss and make up,” Jason says with a grin.

Dick laughs. Jason’s wording is always odd, but he’s used to it. It’s only every once in a while that he pictures things literally and feels a little bit awkward--like now. He shakes his head. “How do you think he’ll take it?”

Jason opens his mouth and judging by the amusement in his face, Dick knows what’s coming.

“The _news_ ,” Dick tells him, giving him a shove for all the words his imagination has provided. God, he’s tired.

Jason shrugs, smoking as he mulls it over. “No idea, Dick.”

“Yeah,” he’s smiling anyway, scrubbing a hand over his head and remembering Damian’s fingers in his hair. His scalp is still a bit tender from the way Damian had tugged on it this morning in the shower.

“How is he?” Jason asks, adding, “Damian, I mean.”

Dick furrows his brows. “Uh. Fine?”

Jason rolls his eyes like Dick is stupid or something. “How is he? Y’know.”

“Jason, he’s _sixteen_ ,” Dick says, scandalized.

“Hey, I’m not the one putting my dick in ’im.”

“Oh, _god_.” Dick is horrified. “Am I terrible person?”

Jason shrugs. “He had a _lot_ of questions.”

Dick lets out a defeated noise. “Like what _exactly_?”

The mortification on Dick’s face is enough to sustain Jason for days, all on its own.

~

Dick’s next mission might be the most nerve-wracking of his entire life.

Bruce really does seem to be in a darker mood than usual and Dick chickens out from telling him then. He teases Bruce instead and gets only half-smirks in response.

He wants to text Damian to let him know that things had not gone as planned, but he knows the teenager is currently in an exam, that even with his intelligence will likely take him another two hours given how thorough the professor is.

Alfred is watching him and he’s certain that Alfred knows. There were more than enough signs around the house for him to have caught on to what was happening behind closed doors--and not-so-closed doors--but Alfred likes Dick, enough to give him the chance to explain himself to Bruce before considering stepping in.

“I’ll do it, Alfred,” he says. “I’ll tell him. I just…” He lets out a long sigh and throws Alfred a crooked grin, “It was Bruce who always taught me how important that survival instinct is?”

“Of course, Master Richard.”

Dick stares at his phone, just fiddling with it, but he looks up when Alfred clears his throat and gives the man a questioning glance.

“Might I say, I think you two were made for each other. Not that it is any of my business, of course.”

“Thanks, Alfred,” Dick says. He pushes himself up from the couch and pulls Pennyworth into a hug and Alfred returns the embrace rather wholeheartedly.

Alfred straightens his clothes after Dick lets go. “Underneath all of his bravado, Master Bruce can be an understanding man--one who is swayed by his emotions as often as the rest of us, and enough cause for misplaced guilt.”

Dick nods at him, although he feels that Alfred has a more specific reason for his words than Dick has any real awareness of. He’s about to risk texting Damian--Damian’s phone will be on silent anyway, he’s sure--when Alfred returns to him with a sandwich and a glass of water.

He doesn’t go on patrol that night, his mind a swirl of thoughts and emotions that he doesn’t know how to deal with yet, still waiting for the right time to talk to Bruce.

~

Dick and Damian have snuck off to get muffins and relieve Alfred of breakfast duty. Or perhaps it’s the fear that Alfred knows how badly he’s spoiled them and, in turn, they know a healthy breakfast is coming.

Dick eyes an old-fashioned donut and Damian’s eyes flicker over him. “No,” he tells Dick firmly.

“What?” Dick laughs. “Are you telling me I’d get fat?”

“‘Get fat?’” Damian repeats. “-tt- Perhaps you should take a look in the mirror sometime.”

Dick looks down at his body self-consciously and Damian smirks. “Wait. Were you _teasing_ me?”

Damian tilts his head thoughtfully, but there is amusement in his features.

It’s just...genuine. There is no hint of malice, no superiority despite how he had messed with him.

Dick leans over and kisses him and Damian is so obviously pleased that Dick feels his heart skip a beat.

“I love you,” Dick says, and he doesn’t care if it’s the millionth time now, or that outside of the bedroom--or wherever they happen to be fucking--Damian will punch him for saying it more often than not since that first time.

He’s surprised when Damian picks up the doughnut and hands it to Dick with a mumbled, “I love you, Richard.”

It’s such a lovely moment, Dick wants to capture it and keep it for all time--and it is.

Unfortunately, it’s captured by a reporter and it shows up in the paper the next day.

~

The only warning they get is a smirk from Jason as he eats a day-old muffin that morning, but there’s last minute shopping to do before the holidays. There’s _always_ last minute shopping before the holidays.

As if the chaos of Christmas wasn’t enough, reporters seem to crawl out of the woodwork.

“Mister Grayson, you were Bruce Wayne’s ward, how does he feel about your relationship with his teenage son?”

Dick smiles at the reporters and he is all charm as he lies through his teeth, Damian right beside him with the hood of his jacket up over his head. “Damian? He’s like my little brother.” 

“How incestuous,” Damian murmurs low enough for only Dick to hear.

Dick only blushes and smiles, running his hand through his hair a bit sheepishly.

“And what of the kiss we saw in today’s paper?” Vicki Vale--of course--pushes.

“Er.” Dick makes a face. “An expression of brotherly love?”

Vicki raises an eyebrow at him and opens her mouth to damn him, he’s certain, but then it’s Damian who speaks. “Grayson.”

Dick turns to look at him only to find himself tugged forward as Damian surges up to kiss him. “D-- Dami--” He doesn’t know _what_ to say.

Damian looks as smug and haughty as he ever has when he focuses--if it can even be called that, the way he pointedly _doesn’t_ look at her--on Vicki Vale. “I assume that will clear things up for you,” he says and Dick has no idea what his own face must look like right now.

~

Dick drops Damian back off at the manor. He intends to drive away--he’s got more shopping to do, preferably _without_ Damian as he has yet to get something for him--but he isn’t surprised when Bruce stops him.

He is glared at until he comes inside and Damian waits only long enough to keep Titus from barreling outside before he’s listening in on their conversation in Bruce’s study.

“He’s a teenager, Dick. It doesn’t matter what he wants. _You_ are the adult and he is my _son_.”

Dick hopes he looks as ashamed as he feels. “I know, Bruce. I-- I’m sorry. I know that doesn’t mean anything now, but I’m not gonna end it.”

“Hm.” Bruce’s jaw tenses. “And why not?”

Dick looks away, then chances a look at Bruce. “Why not?” he repeats. “I… God, this sounds so stupid when I’m saying it to you, but I love him, Bruce.”

Bruce pauses so long that Dick starts to think time has simply frozen, but Bruce’s voice quickly cuts through that hope. “I’m disappointed in you, Dick, but we’ll discuss this later. I need to talk to Damian.” Bruce turns, as if he has already finished with the conversation.

“Don’t-- don’t be too hard on him?” He sighs, lingers a moment to say a silent but hopefully supportive goodbye to Damian.

Once Dick is gone, Damian braces himself for his father’s harsh words. He’s fully prepared to enter into a shouting match in Dick’s defense and for this all to get ugly until his father comes to his senses. It isn’t the way he wanted this to happen--he’s had feelings for the first Robin for as long as he can remember. In a world of idiots and criminals, only Dick Grayson ever stood out to him as something other, as someone he could find himself remotely interested in.

(Damian had thought Dick no better than the others at first, with his bright smile and his unerring compassion. He had almost seemed worse than Drake, if such a thing were even possible.)

Yes, Damian is fully prepared to defend his relationship with Dick Grayson, so it’s a surprise when his father’s expression softens.

Bruce puts a hand on Damian’s shoulder, much like he had months before. “Don’t break him,” he says, and there’s amusement in his eyes, in the undertones of his words.

Damian smirks at his father. “I won’t.”

**Author's Note:**

> I want to do some side stories for this, so if there's anything you'd like to see in this universe, feel free to suggest away. Thank you for reading!


End file.
